Zinedine Zidane, the former France captain, has said he "would rather die" than apologise to Marco Materazzi for headbutting the Italian during the 2006 World Cup final.

Italy went on to win the World Cup in a penalty shoot-out in the absence of the red-carded Zidane, and while the Frenchman admits he regrets what he did, he insists he will never apologise to Materazzi because of the insults about his mother which he claims provoked his actions.

"Of course I reproach myself," Zidane told El País. "But, if I say 'sorry', I would also be admitting that what he himself did was normal. And for me it was not normal.

"Things happen on the pitch. It's happened to me many times. But I could not stand it there. It is not an excuse. But my mother was ill. She was in hospital. This people did not know.

"But it was a bad time. More than once they insulted my mother and I never responded. And [then] it happened. To apologise for this? No. If it was Kaká, a regular guy, a good guy, of course I would have apologised. But not to this one.

"If I ask him forgiveness, I lack respect for myself and for all those I hold dear with all my heart. I apologise to football, to the fans, to the team.

"After the game, I went into the dressing room and told them: 'Forgive me. This doesn't change anything. But sorry everyone.'

"But to him I cannot. Never, never. It would be to dishonour me. I'd rather die. There are evil people. And I don't even want to hear those guys speak."

Materazzi has always denied saying anything about Zidane's mother.

Zidane, who joined Real Madrid in 2001 during their first galácticos era, is now a special adviser to the club's president, Florentino Pérez, and praised the performance of the club's world-record signing, Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Cristiano Ronaldo wants to be the best," he said. "And he says so. It's one thing to say it and another to do it. He says it and then gets up early to go to training at eight in the morning, two hours before scheduled. And he stays there six hours.

"People say he is a show-off, but he's noble. A good lad and worker. Playing every three days you can't do silly things and he knows it. And if they jeer him, he doesn't care. The opposite, he likes it."